I've found this difficult to do as of late. Sitting at my computer, being entranced by the constant ticking of my keystrokes. It lulls me into staying, to keep going, against my better judgement, but alas, I must recount this tale to you, so you know what to expect.

January 21, 1997 Tom Leis

I was sitting alone in my living room, my sister was asleep in the bedroom, snoring softly. My father was watching television in the master bedroom. The television was on, but I was too invested in my sandwich to care. Nothing interesting was ever on anymore. It was about ten o'clock at night, and the crickets were chirping constantly. I grew to ignore this though, the repetitive sound was almost removed from my conscious. I happened to look up at the television, and see that my favorite horror movie was on, Silent Hill. (Though that has nothing to do with this tale.) I stayed up and watched it, taking a break to grab a glass of milk from the fridge. I had seen it before, so it wasn't near as scary as the first time. I walked into the bedroom and fell face first onto my bed. My pillow greeted me warmly and I fell asleep quickly.

January 22, 1997 Tom Leis

I heard a knock on the door, and then footsteps emenating from my dads room. The front door creaked open.

"Hello?" my father answered the door.

"Mr. Leis?" A voice said. The voice was worrying.

"Yes? Has something happened?"

"Your wife Michelle, was killed in a car crash tonight. It was a hit and run, but we'll do our best to find the perpetrator." There was silence in the air, and then the door closed with a click. I heard everything, but I didn't want to accept it. My sister was still happily asleep, unknowing of what was coming to her in the morning.

March 27, 1997 Tom Leis

Just over two months had passed, and I was still in a state of mental instability. My family meant everything to me, and to lose someone so early on was more painful than anything I had ever felt before. Even at the time when I was seven years old, I knew what it meant. Mom wouldn't walk through the door anymore, and she wouldn't be there for my birthday. Or give candy to kids on Halloween, or give gifts to the poor on Christmas. My mother had been erased from my life.

I was in school, sitting at my desk, when the principal called me up to the office.

"Tom, thank you for coming."

"Am I in trouble?"

"No no, we just need to know, if you've seen your friend Hector recently." The principal asked me.

I hadn't, which was strange. Hector wasn't the one to miss school all to often, his foster parents were very strict about going to school. Hectors mother had died at birth, and his father left him at an orphanage. After the orphanage closed down, Hector moved in with the Juarez's. He was the oldest kid in class since he was held back twice. The loss of his parents gave him prescription grade anger issues.

"No, I haven't. The last time I saw him was at the arcade last week." It wasn't true, the last time I saw him was at the store, but he had stolen some candy. I didn't want to tell the principal that though.

"Thank you."

May 31, 1999 Tom Leis

"Hector Juarez, a boy who went missing just over two years ago, was found today. His body was found off the side of the road, and forensic evidence suggests, that he died recently. Find out more about this story, live at eleven." The daily news broadcast. Hector Juarez was finally found, at the time I didn't remember him, almost forgot about him entirely. He was there in the back of my head though, resting in my subconscious, where many others have gone.

June 12, 2000 Tom Leis

I looked at the television, they had found where Hector Juarez was murdered, but not his murderer. It was a shack in the middle of nowhere, the typical staple of a murderer, hidden from plain sight, but easily visible to the keen eye. A crow cawed loudly and flew at the news reporter clawing at her face. When the bird left, she had multiple gashes, and then the feed cut off. There was just a constant beep going. The screen went black and I hit the guide button, I looked through the channels for something interesting to watch, but there was nothing good on. I turned the television off.

August 28, 2001 Tom Leis

I was walking home from school, and decided to take the short path. It was through the field, a wide open area, with dirt hills, and a single tree on the northern side. I always took this path when I wanted to get home quickly. When something interesting was going on. On the Eastern side of the field a man was digging. He had a white tee on and overalls. He rested on his shovel for a moment, and happened to see me. He smiled kindly and waved, so I waved back. I had never seen the man before, but it was nice to see a stranger wave.

October 1, 2001 Tom Leis

"Another missing person, found almost two years after his kidnapping date, was found today in a field in the North-East area of town. Could this be a serial killer loose in our small-town? Find out more at eleven." The field had produced a body. I made a promise to never go near it again.

January 8, 2009 Tom Leis

Three more bodies had appeared since the last one, and it was coming near time for another. Everyone knew it was coming, but most of us knew it wasn't us, or anyone we knew.

"Take this." Zach said while holding his breath. We were passing around a joint, a good day for us. Zach's mom gave him some money, which was not very often. Ethan was coming, to pick us up so we could smoke with him. He was supposed to bring some too. I took my hit and held it. We were having an iron lung competition. Take a hit, and hold it in until your next hit. Fun to do since we always had a large group. Michael was next, and then Tucker, Jennifer, Alexis, and Zach, then I could release my hit, and do it again.

A diesel engine could be heard coming up down the street. Ethan's familiar truck rumbled to a stop outside of Michael's house. We heard his door shut and he walked out from in front of his truck.

"What up bitches." He said, and then let the bag of cannabis roll open. He had about forty there, and we had twenty. A perfect day so far.

We smoked some of his pot, and then left on our adventure. Michael was on the other side of town from me, so I didn't know much of the area. When the "where should we go" question popped up, I remained silent.

We ended up driving with no destination, and then I started to recognize the area. We were somewhere near my house, but I couldn't tell where.

After a moment, the single large tree came into sight. Our familiar smoking spot. (I certainly missed those days.) I had brushed my vow aside, with the missing children, they didn't mean much to me anymore.

The sun had just began to set when we got settled and started to smoke. A lot of comments were made about the beauty of the fading sun, as if it were closing its eyes to the world, and leaving us in a world of dark.

We were ready to leave and Ethan asked if I wanted a ride. I declined to save him the gas, and started to head home. They had just gone out of site, when I heard a raven caw in the distance. It was strange, but I laughed at myself for getting scared. I kept walking forward, the THC was making me laugh at a lot of things, I felt a hand pressed against my mouth, and then I fell asleep.

January 9, 2009

It's been a long time since this has happened, and I do not remember the exact details, but I will go into as much depth as possible. Please forgive me if this offends you, or keeps you from sleep.

10:00 A.M. Tom Leis

I woke up and went to rub my eyes. Handcuffs were chaining me to the pillar I was resting against. On the opposite side of the room, a girl was sitting, she was about my age, and blonde, it was strange how familiar was, because I knew I'd never met her. She was wearing clean clothes, I looked down, and noticed that I was in different clothes as well.

For the first time in my life. I felt an extreme sense of dread overcome me. I felt the cold hands of Death on my neck, and the sound of a sword being pulled from its scabbard. I shook that feeling aside, and remembered all the movies I'd seen. I didn't know if they would actually help, but I sure would try. I tried speaking to the girl, but she laid motionless, save for the moving of her lungs as she breathed. My eyes had finally adjusted to the light and I noticed the dim lighting. It was disconcerting. I noticed that I was still high, but figured it wasn't very long after we'd finished. I knew what was happening and accepted it, I think that helped me cope with it more.

1:00 P.M. Tom Leis

A door creaked off to the side, and the girl on the other side of the room flinched herself awake. She looked off to the side, and then took in her surroundings in horror. She started to freak out, but a man walked in. With a cookie tray in his hand. He stood in the middle of us and set the tray off to the side. On it were two plates, with pancakes, eggs, and bacon. He removed the cord from my mouth and held the fork up with food on it. I opened my mouth and took a bite, I figured if he wanted to kill me, it would happen whether I ate or not. I couldn't see his face, he was wearing a hooded sweater and a plain white mask with human-like features. There were holes cut for the eyes and the nose, but the mouth was closed. The hood shadowed his eyes, so I couldn't get a good look at him. He continued to feed me until he was finished, the girl refused to eat. After he was finished with the food, he gave us orange juice, she refused to drink that as well, but I found it refreshing. He set down our glasses, and then picked up syringes with a small amount of a strange liquid in it. He cleaned my arm, and then stuck the needle in. I started to fall asleep and watched, as he did the same to the girl.

7:00 P.M. Tom Leis

I came too what felt like days later, though I knew it was only hours. My high had worn off. The girl was awake this time, and she was just staring at me. It was strange, but the door made her avert her eyes. It opened and the same person walked in. He put a dropper up to the girl's mouth and dripped it in. He looked at me and I started to get scared, I knew I was going to die. The girl fell limp and her eyes grew wide.

"Don't worry, it's only a mild paralytic toxin. It will wear of in about thirty minutes." He started to untie her, and then put a plate, knife, and fork next to her. He put a glass of something with it, and then walked over to me. He held the dropper up, and I lost control of my muscles. I watched him untie me, and then put a plate next to me. He left the room, and approximately thirty minutes later, the girl moved. She saw the plate and started to eat from it ferociously. She was picking at the bread like a bird. I started to twitch, and then regained control of my muscles. I started to eat, and finished long after her. After she was done she scurried off to a corner, and grabbed her knees. She started to rock back and forth and sob.

8:00 P.M. Tom Leis

The door opened, and the person came in. The girl moved to hit him, but he put his hand on her, and she fell to the floor seizing.

He wiggled his hand. "My own design, a shocking glove." The glove had wires coming from the first and middle fingers with sharp tips. "We can do this easily, or I can make it painful." I looked over at the girl on the floor, and decided to let him tie me up. After he tied her up, he gave us the same sedative from earlier, and I fell asleep soon after.

July 4, 2010 Tom Leis

The same process had been repeated for the last year or so. I had lost track of time, and it didn't much matter anymore. The world was lost to me, and I to it. Today, the person brought in a small television, and a pair of earphones. He tied my head to the pillar, and put the television into my vision. I couldn't turn my head, and knew something bad was coming. He put the earphones in, and then turned the television on. A home-recorded video started to play. It was a passenger seat of a car. The camera rotated upwards, and I saw the business my mom used to work at. I saw her walk out of the front door moments after. The sound of a car starting up boomed in my ear. It made me jump a bit. The car started to follow my mother. The screen flickered, and then it was night. My mothers car was stopped in front of the recorder, at a stop sign. She turned right, and the one recording went straight. The video kept playing and I heard a few shuffling noises. The car made a right, and then picked up speed. The camera was set down on its side, and then the car door opened. The last picture I saw, was my mother crushed in her car, against the center console. Her mouth was dripping blood and her eyes were open, her face was resting on the steering wheel. A few moments later, the camera was picked up, and then went black.

Afterwards, he turned the television off, and then set it in front of the girl.

He started to play a movie for her, and then gave me the sedative.

August 20, 2010 Tom Leis

The person walked in, and held his dropper up to the girl. He had shown me the murders of Hector Juarez, and the dead body found after him, I didn't know the person though, in the days since he showed my mothers death. He had killed Hector with a lethal injection, and the other boy was drowned. He picked the girl up over his shoulder, and then walked out. He had never done this before, it piqued my interest, though I knew I wouldn't know what was happening. As if he knew what I was thinking, he brought the television in, and put an antenna over it. He turned it on, and it gained a signal. Comedy shows were on, and I watched them in enjoyment. Many of them were new to me, since I had been disassociated with the world for nearly two years. I watched television for several hours, losing myself in the shows that were on. Until the screen flashed multiple times, and breaking news came across the screen.

"A girl was found today, in the center of the movie theatre with her stomach removed." I caught a glimpse of blonde and knew it was the other girl. Another person taken away from me. Even though we never spoke, I grew accustomed to seeing her every day, and it gave me some small feeling of joy to know I wasn't alone. Is that cruel? After the news the man came in and turned the television off. He held the dropper up to my mouth, and I thought I was going to die, but this wasn't his normal pattern. He took my bindings off and took the television out. He left the door open, but never returned to close it. I stood up, and started to walk towards the door. I saw the sun, and it nearly blinded me, even though I was inside.

2:00 P.M. Tom Leis.

I had just read the time, and date. The first time I had done so in two years seven months eleven days and fifteen hours. I heard a gunshot from another room, and then a thud. I slowly walked towards the noise, and picked up a vase on the way. When I got to the room, I saw a sweater, with the mask laying on the table in the middle of the room, neatly placed there. There was a bent piece of paper with TOM written in an extravagant font. I looked on the couch, and saw a body laying there, it was a young guy. Only about thirty five or forty. The gun he used to commit suicide was lying on the floor. I picked up the note.

TOM

First of all, I must say thank you. You have made the past few years enjoyable to some extent, though only to me. You will find a laptop under the table, if you so choose, read the file labeled LIFE OF EM. This is what I leave you with, and I hope you choose to accept my offer.

I walked over to the table and felt under it. The laptop was there. I opened it up, and found the file.

October 30, 2014 Em

I've found this difficult to do as of late. Sitting at my computer, being entranced by the constant ticking of my keystrokes. It lulls me into staying, to keep going, against my better judgement, but alas, I must recount this tale to you, so you know what to expect.

The file told me the life of the man who kidnapped me. Recanting how he lost his mother, and best friend at a young age, and then got kidnapped. He recreated everything so perfectly for me. His kidnapper was a serial killer, who had killed his mother, and best friend, showing him the video, leaving him alone. He felt the need to repeat the process with someone else, so that maybe… they could understand his pain.

But I was alone now, the kidnapper had left me with nothing, and I so choose to write this file, to let someone else know, how I feel.

I had taken his name, because my identity was gone. I left it in the vault.

October 31, 2014

Em closed the laptop, after finishing his daily entry. He stood up from the couch, and picked up the tray, and carried it into the vault.

The author would like to thank you for your continued support. Your review has been posted.